Structural Estimation of Peer Effects in Youth Smoking

Brian Krauth

A chapter in Substance Use: Individual Behaviour, Social Interactions, Markets and Politics, 2005, pp 201-211 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: This chapter outlines a new approach to measuring peer influence on the choice of a young person to smoke cigarettes. The methodology is based on estimating an equilibrium discrete choice model in which the relative benefit to smoking is increasing in the fraction of peers who smoke. In contrast to much of the literature, this structural model allows for positive correlation in observable and unobservable characteristics between peers. The structural approach has been applied to estimating close friend peer effects in Canada, California, and the U.S.A. in general. In all three settings, I find that close friend smoking is substantially less influential than is generally found by previous studies.

Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.101 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.101 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:aheszz:s0731-2199(05)16009-9

DOI: 10.1016/S0731-2199(05)16009-9

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().